Safe Haven Shelter
by Shadow of Midnight
Summary: Safe Haven Shelter was opened to help kids in trouble. Will new arrivals Neji and Hinata finally find a place that accepts them? Warning: Abuse/Neglect
1. Chapter 1

This is just the prologue

**This is just the prologue. More chapters will be posted as soon as I write them. **

**I don't own Naruto, except in my dreams. **

**Warnings: mention of abuse/neglect, homelessness, suicide, and Schizophrenia. **

Prologue

_The dark haired girl pulled her cousin toward her. She hugged him gently, not wanting to frighten him, and stroked his back comfortingly. He huddled closer to her, his milky eyes wide and frightened. _

_The door opened behind her. She blinked at the sudden light spilling across the doorframe into the dark room. Her cousin's eyes made no reaction. Her father stood in the doorway, a tray containing a small amount of food balanced in his hands. He set it down on the floor then glared across to where they sat in the corner. _

"_Will broken yet, boy?" He asked mockingly. The boy raised his head defiantly. _

"_Never." The man scowled and slammed the door, leaving them in the semi-darkness once more. The girl waited until he was gone. _

"_He brought food." She whispered before releasing him to grab the tray. There was little food on it, enough for half a person. She frowned. "Here's your portion." She said to the boy and handed him the plate with all the food. "Mine's on another plate." She was hungry but she squashed those feelings. A small smile lit up the boy's face. She hated lying to him but he would have starved himself for her. She could get food once they got out of here. He could not. _

_He ate quickly, not knowing that she had no food in front of her. She pretended to eat then took the plate from him. She set it down. A day passed slowly in there. Nothing to do, almost impossible to see clearly, and small, alarming squeaking sounds came from the walls. _

_The girl reflected on what got them into this mess. He was being punished again. Her father shoved him into the dark room. The girl could hear him trying to open the door. _

'_Father! Let him out of there!' __She had cried. '__Pl-please?' __He shook his head. The girl was desperate. '__If one of us was locked up in there we'd be terrified. But with his condition, he's beyond afraid. Let him out of there! Lock me up instead!' __The man, her father, considered. A truly evil smile lit up his face. He opened the door, only to shove her inside. _

'_Now you can take care of your precious cousin.' __He sneered. The girl carefully felt around for the boy and gathered him into her arms. _

_The door creaked again and swung open to reveal- _

Sweating, Hinata Hyuuga pulled herself from her dream. She whimpered slightly which awoke the boy wrapped in rags beside her. The pale moonlight shining down on the dirty city street they were now huddled in, illuminated his pale face. His cloudy eyes were unfocused as usual.

"You alright?" He asked, in a whisper.

"Yeah, bad dream was all." She responded. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"You're not alright. That dream really got to you. I can tell." She shrugged.

"I'm fine, go back to sleep, Neji. We need the rest."

"What did you dream about?" He asked.

"The first time I was down there with you." He frowned again.

"Sorry."

"No need to apologize. It was my choice to go down there." His blank eyes scanned her face before his head dropped and he fell asleep again. Hinata stayed awake. He was really perceptive, she noted, hard to hide things from him. He knew her emotions better than she, herself, did. Despite being blind, he saw feelings clearly. _Blind_, she hated to think of him that way, defined by his limits. But it was true. Neji Hyuuga was 100 percent blind, had always been and had no chance of ever seeing again.

**What did you think? Poor Neji, he's blind. Not like 'Trouble seeing' blind but like 'Shine a bright light in his face and he can't see it' blind. Review! **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**I present: Chapter 2 of Safe Haven Shelter! In this chapter you meet other characters, including Naruto and Tenten! **

**I don't own Naruto ok? Don't rub it in!**

"Hey," A voice spoke into Hinata's ear. She jerked awake. Neji was already awake and looking around with a mixture of panic and concern for her. She gently stroked his arm and he turned toward her. The voice spoke again. "You alright?" The speaker was a blond, blue eyed boy, kneeling beside them with total disregard for the dirt of the street. Hinata looked into his eyes, which were friendly.

"Um, yeah?" The boy shook his head.

"Why are you on the streets?" Neji hissed softly.

"Its alright." She spoke to the boy. "We ran away." The boy pursed his lips.

"Did you have a reason to run away or did your parents not let you have a boyfriend?" Hinata's eyebrows shot up. Neji cut in.

"You consider being shoved into a dark room in the basement with inadequate food for up to two days a reason?" The kid nodded.

"I do. So that's what happened to you. You two brother and sister?" Hinata shook her head.

"Cousins." The kid nodded again.

"I'm Naruto."

"Hinata."

"Neji." Naruto nodded yet again.

"Wanna get off the streets?" He asked.

"Not if your way is illegal." Neji said flatly. "I don't want Hinata to wind up in jail." Naruto laughed.

"Not illegal. I was gonna suggest you go to the shelter I live at. Its run by a girl a year older than me and her guardian. There's," He counted on his fingers, "counting Tenten, the girl, five of us. Then two kids are in college. She'll let you in." Neji and Hinata considered. Hinata yawned.

"I don't know." Her stomach rumbled. She blushed slightly and snuggled back into her rags. Neji fumblingly pulled the cloth back over her. She fell asleep in seconds.

"So, whatcha think?" Naruto said again. Neji turned in the direction of his voice.

"Not like we have another choice. She got locked up in there because of me, she ran away because of me. I can't let anything happen to her. Where's this place?" Naruto laughed.

"You care a lot about her don't you?" At Neji's nod, he gave directions, "I can't take you myself, I gotta pick up food. Dei's cooking tonight, she doesn't like interference. She hates cooking. Anyway." He pointed, "See that? Turn right there-" Neji interrupted.

"No, I don't see that."

"Right there. See?" Neji exhaled sharply.

"No, I don't see."

"Its right there." Naruto pointed out.

"I'm blind, ok? No sight at all. I can't see my hand in front of my face. If I look up at the sun, nothing. Understand?" Neji was annoyed.

"Sorry, didn't mean to remind you. Hard, huh?" Neji snorted.

"You kidding? You know how much its screwed with my life?" Naruto sighed.

"I'll take you two there myself. Then I'll hurry back out and get the food. Dei'll understand, I hope." Neji nodded. He reached toward Hinata. His hands fumbled for her shoulders.

"Hinata, wake up. Naruto's going to take us to this shelter place." Hinata pulled herself awake again.

"Ok." She stood up. "Lets go." Neji pushed himself upright. Hinata puut her hand on his shoulder. Naruto stepped forward.

"Follow me." Hinata gently pushed her cousin forward. She used the hand on his shoulder to steer him. Naruto hurried them past the wakening streets to the middleclass section of the city. He stopped in front of a house. A sign in front of it at the edge of the lawn proclaimed it the 'Safe Haven Shelter'.

"Up there. Come on." They walked up the drive to the front door. Naruto fumbled for the key in his pocket.

"Dang. Forgot the key." He knocked on the door. It opened to reveal a girl with brown hair up in two buns on either side of her head. "Heh, Tenten. I forgot-"

"Naruto, do you ever remember your key?" The girl laughed. Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"No…" Tenten looked across at Hinata and Neji standing a step back.

"Who?" She asked Naruto.

"Hinata and Neji. They're cousins. I found them sleeping on Fifth Street. They ran away from home and they got nowhere to go." Tenten smiled.

"Come in." She ushered them both inside and into a living room. "Naruto, did you get the groceries Dei needed?" Naruto shook his head. "Go wake up Sasuke. Send him to get Dei's groceries. Go on." She shooed him out of the room. She turned back to them with a welcoming smile. "I'm Tenten. Welcome to Safe Haven Shelter." Hinata smiled back at her. Neji turned his head toward her. Hinata bit her lip, glanced at Neji, glanced at Tenten and spoke.

"Tenten? Can I talk to you in the other room for a moment?" Tenten nodded.

"Course." Neji rolled his eyes.

"Hinata. I know what you're going to talk about." She shushed him.

"I know you do. I just, its hard with you right there." She walked toward the door. "I'll be back in a moment."

"Make yourself at home." Tenten told him before following Hinata outside into the hallway. "What is it?"

"Its about Neji,"

"What about him?"

"He's blind. I just wanted to give you a heads up. He hates to talk about, hates to be reminded, hates to be defined by his limit, but its true. The only thing he can see if you shine a really powerful light directly into his eyes and that only looks like a lighter black." Tenten nodded.

"Ok. So, do you want to share a room with him?" Hinata cocked her head. "We share rooms." Tenten explained. "Dei and I share, Naruto shares with Sasuke and Gaara, who you'll meet later, Haku and Kimmimaro, who're in college, used to share." Hinata nodded.

"Ok." She and Tenten reentered the room to find Neji leaning up against the wall. Hinata went straight to him and whispered quietly into his ear. He nodded. She put a hand on his shoulder again and guided him back to Tenten. Tenten smiled and led them to a room two doors down.

"This is going to be you two's room." She opened the door. It was clean, painted blue and had two beds. "The kitchen is down there," She pointed. "Come on, I'll show you and introduce you to Dei." She began walking, "You'll have to forgive her if she's not quite normal. Dei's not like anyone else I've ever met. Please be kind to her, she's Schizophrenic. People bullied her at school once and she tried suicide. We found her in time. It was the scariest moment of my life, seeing her on the floor, blood all around her." She shivered, "Naruto, Sasuke and Gaara are in there." She pointed to another door. A grumbling black haired boy came out of it. "This is Sasuke. Sasuke, this is Hinata and Neji." The boy nodded.

"Hey." His black eyes looked appraisingly at them. He turned back to Tenten. "Why'd I have to be sent?"

"Because Dei'd never go and she's cooking today, you know as well as I do that Gaara would be petrified by having to talk to a stranger, and I need Naruto to help me settle Hinata and Neji in." Sasuke nodded, shrugged and walked to the door.

"I got the list from Naruto. Later." He left. Naruto came out.

"Gaara's still asleep. Lets let him sleep."

"Gaara's got insomnia." Tenten explained. "Come on, I'm introducing them to Dei. You made sure you gave her her meds?" She turned to the two cousins, "Dei needs medication." Naruto nodded.

"Do I forget?" Tenten shook her head. She led them down the hall to the kitchen. There was the sound of clay being slapped down against the table.

"Dei's into art." Tenten knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" A girl's voice said.

"Its me, Tenten. Naruto's with me. I wanna introduce you to two kids who're going to be staying here. Can we come in?"

"Course, Tenten. Yeah." Tenten opened the door.

**Ooh. A cliffy. Not that you really care… well. Who do you think 'Dei' is? One hint. Dei isn't their full name. It's a nickname that she gets called by Naruto and Tenten. Next chapter you meet 'Dei' and Gaara. Review or I'll… umm, set Lee loose on you after telling him that poking you is youthful. You don't want that, do you?**


	3. Chapter 3

Here's the next chapter

**Here's the next chapter. In this chapter you get to see if you guessed right about who Dei was. If you don't know, please go read Naruto Shippuden. Please. **

**I don't own Naruto. Honestly. **

Tenten opened the door to reveal a fourteen-year-old girl sitting at a table with a pile of clay out in front of her. She was molding it into a bird. She squashed it and looked up, a smile coming to her lips at the sight of her friends. She was tan blond and blue-grey eyed. One eye was covered by her bangs. Part of her hair was up in a ponytail on top of her head. The rest of it fell loosely. She practically bounced over and stopped before them.

"Hi, I'm Deidara, yeah!" She said enthusiastically. Naruto nodded and patted her on the back.

"Hey, Dei." She laughed.

"Hey, Naru!"

"Dontcha have to cook?" Her face fell, almost comically.

"Don't remind me." She pouted. She grabbed a ball of clay off the table and began to play with it. "Soooo, who're they?" She gestured to Neji and Hinata.

"Sorry," Tenten interjected. "They're going to live here too, Dei. This is Hinata."

"H-hi."

"-And Neji."

"Hello."

"Hi!" Deidara waved cheerfully. She turned back to her clay. "So, hey, Naru. Umm, yeah, can you…"

"Cook for you?" He sighed. "You owe me, Dei."

"Yay!" She cheered. "I don't have to cook! Yeah, I don't have to cook!" Her enthusiasm was catchy. Naruto laughed.

"Quiet or I will make you cook." He threatened. Deidara stopped bouncing. She hugged him.

"You wouldn't make me… yeah." A sleepy head poked around the corner. The person rubbed their eyes. Their red hair was tousled.

"Gaara, you're up." Tenten turned. "Come on." The boy slunk into the room, his eyes wide. He glanced across to Neji and Hinata.

"Who're they?" He whispered.

"Neji and Hinata. They're going to live here." Tenten explained. He nodded nervously. Naruto and Deidara bounced over to him. Naruto put an arm around his shoulders while Deidara twirled around the room. Naruto sighed again. Hinata had her hand on her cousin's shoulder. His face turned in the direction of each voice. Gaara, sleepy and confused was standing there.

"I don't have to cook! Yeah!" Deidara giggled. "Naru's doing it for me!" She stuck out her tongue at Naruto. Tenten smiled at them all. She loved to see them smiling and laughing like they'd never been hurt.

"Dei, calm down." Tenten said calmly. "Its too early in the morning to be hyper." The energetic girl stopped bouncing. She sat back down at the table and went back to working with the ball of clay. "Neji, Hinata, this is Gaara." Naruto half dragged Gaara forward. The red head had green eyes with dark circles around them.

"Hi." He said quietly. Naruto patted him on the back. Neji and Hinata nodded in acknowledgement of the introduction.

"Come on. I'll bring you back to your room and find clean clothes for you." Tenten said. She grabbed Hinata's wrist. They followed her out.

"Sorry about Dei. She's hyper this morning." Tenten explained. "Since she's Schizophrenic she's highly emotional. Sometimes she wakes up with Hallucinations and she thinks we're all conspiring to get rid of her. Sometimes she is just angry for no reason. Sometimes she's depressed. And then she gets hyper." She smiled. "At least she's not sad."

"She's funny." Hinata said.

"She is. She certainly keeps life interesting."

Back in the kitchen Deidara sneezed then giggled.

"So, whatcha think of the new kids?" She asked.

"Be nice to them, Dei." Naruto scolded. "Especially Neji. No pranks." He turned to his shy friend. "You're going to have to talk to him, Gaara. He's blind." Gaara and Deidara looked at him.

"Whoa. Really?" Deidara said, sobered up.

"He looks like it." Gaara offered quietly. "I mean, Hinata steers him around. And he turns in the direction of our voices but only when we speak. Not when we move." Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, where'd you meet them?" Deidara asked curiously. "I know it was you." Naruto nodded.

"Good deduction, Dei. I met 'em on Fifth. They were huddled up in a buncha rags and they said they ran away from home because they used to get locked up in room for up to two days. They're cousins." Gaara and Deidara both looked after the two who had left with Tenten.

"I can see that having happened to him, yeah, but not really to her. She's not, well, totally traumatized." Naruto nodded.

"Yep, she's not really traumatized. She's been protecting him since he can't see so she doesn't have the time to feel sorry for herself or anything."

"Yeah."

"So play nice, Dei." Naruto reminded her. She giggled and threw the lump of clay at him. He caught it and threw it back at her. She caught it. She stared intently at the clay. "Dei?" Naruto tapped her on the shoulder.

"Boo!" Deidara took the water she had been using to moisten the clay and poured it down the back of his shirt. He yelped. "Gotcha, yeah." She laughed. Even quiet Gaara had to laugh as Naruto chased Deidara around the room.

"This is so different from yesterday." Gaara said quietly to himself. Yesterday, Deidara had been sobbing for no reason. She wouldn't talk to anyone except for Naruto and she'd refused to come out of her room. Deidara was a constant shock to Gaara.

Tenten opened the door again and showed them into the room.

"I'll get you two some clean clothes." She walked out to her own room.

"They seem nice." Hinata ventured. Neji nodded.

"They are." His face was blank.

"You've got a chance here." Hinata ventured.

"That's true." He smiled. "Thanks." Tenten entered the room then and he stopped smiling and his face became emotionless.

"Here're some clothes for both of you." She handed them a set of clothes. "There's a shower in there. Breakfast'll be done as soon as Sasuke gets back with the groceries." She stepped out of the room. Hinata stood up and walked into the bathroom with the clothes that had been given to her, Tenten's. Neji stayed outside waiting for her.

Tenten went down the hall into the kitchen. Just in time to get hit in the face with a glass of water Deidara had just thrown. The kitchen was soaked.

Deidara and Naruto stopped sheepishly.

"Sorry, yeah." Tenten scowled at them. Then she burst out laughing. She walked over to the sink, filled a glass with water and dumped it over Deidara.

**Don't you just love Dei? I've recently become a Dei fan. I don't really think Deidara is a girl, he just makes such a good girl that I couldn't resist. Hehe, if you wanna see Dei, Naru, Tenten, Gaara, Sasuke, Neji, Hinata, and eventually Haku, Kimmimaro and Tsunade, then you will leave a review! Yeah!**


	4. Chapter 4

Here's the new chapter with extra Deidara

**Here's the new chapter with extra Deidara. If you're a Deidara fan you have kawaiiitahina123 to thank for that. They left a review saying that they liked Deidara. If you want more of your favorite character, leave me a review. Deidara wasn't even supposed to be in this chapter.**

**I don't own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke would be dead, Haku, Itachi, Kimmimaro and Deidara would all be alive, and Naruto and Hinata would be a couple… See? I don't own. **

**If you were wondering why my characters are Ooc that's just the way I see them. I think Hinata's got steel in her, she did pull herself together to fight Neji. Deidara's kinda crazy. My Naruto is based from Shippuden. My Neji is more like Shippuden Neji. My Gaara is basically six year old Gaara. I think that's more like his real nature than 12 year old Gaara. If you've got a problem with that… psssssh. Stop reading my stories. **

Hinata stepped out of the shower, feeling clean for the first time in a month. Her short cut hair was wrapped in a towel. She was happy. Just getting the grime out from all over her body had been a kind of bliss. She felt serene. She put on the clothes which were a little too big for her. She could tell they were Tenten's clothes.

Deidara was too tall for these to fit and she was the only other girl there. She had a light pink t-shirt and black pants. She reached down and rolled up the bottoms so that she wasn't tripping on them. Then she took the hairbrush that was sitting next to the sink and began to comb through her tangled hair. It was hard but the amount of conditioner she had put into it made the task easier.

She made a mental note to save up her money once she found a way of earning some, to get a new haircut. Her hair was getting much to long for this one. Hinata wiped away the steam from her shower on the small mirror set over the sink. She looked into the mirror. She looked completely different. Her eyes sparkled with energy and enthusiasm. Once her hair was clean, she tucked it back and stepped out of the room.

Naruto was standing next to Neji and explaining something to him. Both of them turned around when Hinata came out. Naruto blushed slightly. Hinata's shirt was lower than what she had been wearing before. Neji turned his head to the side so he could hear where she was. Hinata sat down beside Neji. He smiled across at her.

"The bathroom's free," She told him. "You need help?" He shook his head.

"No. Thanks anyway, Hinata." He stood up and fumbled his way across to the bathroom. The door clicked shut and a few seconds later Hinata and Naruto heard the water start. Naruto turned to Hinata with a nervous smile on his face.

"So, I was explaining to your cousin about everybody here."

"Yeah?"

"I guess I should tell you about everyone. There's me, Tenten, Deidara, Sasuke, and Gaara. Then there's Dr. Tsunade, Haku and Kimmimaro. Who do you wanna hear about first?" Hinata shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Me it is. I'm Naruto, I'm about 12 years old but I don't know for certain. I've been here the longest ever since Tenten saved me from the streets."

"You lived on the streets?"

"Yep. Since I was little. Its all I remember. Then when I was about seven, Tenten and Dr. Tsunade found me and since I had no where to go, I became the first person at Safe Haven Shelter. Its been my home since then."

"Wow." Hinata commented. "Must have been tough on the streets when you were that young." At Naruto's nod she continued. "I understand. It was hard for us too especially with Neji's handicap." She stopped.

"Then there's Tenten." Naruto continued, to fill the awkward silence. "She's a year older than I am. She was orphaned when she was seven and her new guardian was Dr. Tsunade. She was a family friend and they wanted to change the world. So they bought this house, and took me in. Tenten's amazing, she's really happy, brave and kindhearted. Her own loss only made her kinder." He stopped, "She's like my sister."

"She seems really kind." Hinata ventured.

"She is. The reason that we're all her is her. She saved basically all of our lives. Who knows where we'd be with out her? I'd still be on the streets and Dei'd probably be in an Asylum…" He stopped.

"Tenten told me she was Schizophrenic."

"She is. She's still a really good person. Not that long after I came here, the doorbell rang, we opened it and there she was. Her parents left her since they couldn't deal with her. She kept going on about the voices she heard which led Dr. Tsunade to believe she was Schizophrenic or Bipolar. She was taken to a specialist, diagnosed with Schizophrenia and put on medication. We've never seen her parents and she never talks about them. She's also like my sister. We play around all the time. She's into art."

"She's hilarious." Hinata suggested. Naruto laughed.

"You've got no idea." He laughed some more.

"Next is Sasuke. His family was all murdered. He was the one survivor. Tenten went there to see what had happened and she found him shivering on the sidewalk. She took him back and since then he's been and since then he's been one of us. He's kinda infuriating sometimes. He's not very social and doesn't like people much. I'm probably his only friend besides Tenten. He's terrified of blood and doesn't like the dark at all. He tries to act tough but its just an act."

"That's so sad."

"Yeah, it is. We were so sorry for him. He just didn't want our sympathy."

"Ok, so you've told me about you, Tenten, Deidara and Sasuke. What about Gaara?" Naruto sighed.

"Then there's Gaara. He was rescued by the police from a neglectful home a few years ago. Small and shy, Gaara was forgotten and starved of both food and human contact. His older sister and brother didn't care about what happened to him and his mother and father didn't either. Kids at school didn't like his fear and physical ineptitude so they mainly shunned him. I was his only friend. He met me when he was walking home from school and I was still on the street. Once the police got him out, Dr. Tsunade was the one who treated him. She took him here. He's close to mute and his been mistaken for a mute because he is excessively shy. He does talk however, but always extremely quietly. Tenten has recently been trying to get him to speak louder but her attempts are largely doomed to failure. He feels more comfortable writing his thoughts on a paper rather than expressing them aloud. He shares a room with me and Sasuke."

"So that's why he's so quiet." Hinata said. "He didn't seem very confident."

"He's not."

"I see."

"Then there's Dr. Tsunade. She is Tenten's guardian and the official guardian of all the shelter kids. She is kind hearted but attached to Sake though she is a 'Happy Drunk' in the words of Kimmimaro. She's a nice person."

"She sounds interesting. You mentioned two other people…" Naruto nodded.

"Haku and Kimmimaro. They're older. Haku's always been interested in art and music. I personally think that its what got him through foster care. His parents died when he was young and he was tossed from place to place until he ended up at the shelter. He is now in his first year of college. He keeps in touch. Kimmimaro's interesting too. He's a year older than Haku and he's in his second year of college. He's interested in law and criminal justice and plans to become a lawyer. He's got well, an interesting appearance. He's albino."

"Really?"

"Yep, as a young child, he was ostracized for his pale skin. Kimmimaro wears contacts because of slightly weak eyes and his contacts are tinted brown. His drunk father shared the thought of him being different because of his appearance and abused him. Since the marks stood out so clearly, it was not much more than a year before his rescue. He came to the shelter at the same time as Haku, who he used to share a room with. He got a lot better since he came. He stays in touch too."

"Wow."

"They're all like my family. They-"

"Awww, mushy moment, yeah." Deidara poked her head around the door. "Hi Hinata." She had changed and was wearing bright yellow.

"Dei," Naruto greeted her. "What's up?" She giggled.

"Sasuke's back. I got him with a pail of water, yeah." Naruto sighed.

"Silly Dei." She giggled again.

"I know." She stepped into the room with one of her hands behind her back. She came up close to Naruto then pulled her hand out. She had an icecube. She dropped it down the back of Naruto's shirt. He screamed. Deidara burst into laughter.

"You fell for it, yeah!" She cheered. "I win."

"Deidara!" Naruto roared. He turned back to Hinata. "Sorry. I've gotta go get Dei. Maybe we can talk later?" He flushed slightly. "Whatcha say?" Hinata nodded. He raced out of the room in pursuit of Deidara. He caught up to her in the kitchen.

"Dei! You embarrassed me in front of Hinata!"

"Heh, Naru has a crush, yeah!" Deidara yelled.

"I don't!"

"Yes you do. Naru and Hinata, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Yeah!"

"Deidara!"

"You know I'm right!" She giggled. "You know you like her. You know you like her! Naru's first crush! Wait until I tell everyone."

"You'll tell no one."

"You admitted it. Yeah!" She cheered, clapping her hands together. He winced.

"I'm gonna get you!" She ran giggling into her room and shut the door leaving Naruto outside with his thoughts. He had to admit, he did have a bit of a crush on Hinata. He hoped she didn't find out.

**Yeah, Naruto has a crush on Hinata. I didn't want it to be only her with a crush. Heh. That was fun to write. Probably my longest chapter too! Leave reviews. **


	5. Chapter 5

This chapter takes place a day later once Neji and Hinata are settled in

**This chapter takes place a day later once Neji and Hinata are settled in. Deidara's mood was chosen by a reviewer. If you wanna pick the next Deidara mood, leave a review. **

**I don't own Naruto. Sheesh. **

Deidara stepped out of her room. She had a camouflage hoodie pulled up to cover her face. She wasn't giggling or laughing. She wasn't even running around.

Naruto stepped out of his room, shadowed by Gaara. They both glanced at Deidara's outfit and froze. Naruto sighed.

"A paranoid day." He murmured. "I hope she takes her meds voluntarily." He pulled the bottle containing Deidara's medication out of his pocket and stepped toward the girl as she walked to the kitchen. It was Thursday, Tenten's day to cook.

"Dei, time to take your meds." He said calmly. Deidara whirled around suddenly.

"I won't take them, yeah!" She yelled. "You're trying to poison me, they're poisoned!" Naruto shook his head.

"Dei, they're not poisoned. I give these to you every day. They don't hurt you." He said rationally.

"It's a slow acting poison! You're trying to get rid of me!" She screamed. She was twitching, looking around her for more threats.

"Calm down, Dei. Its alright. You need to take your meds and then you'll feel better."

"I'll be dead, yeah. You're trying to get rid of me! What did I do?" She screamed again. A sleepy head poked out from one of the rooms, Hinata.

"What's going on?" She asked groggily. Naruto turned bright red. Deidara shrieked.

"A spy! She's here to kill me!" Hinata was bewildered. Naruto explained with his face still crimson.

"No-nothing, Hinata." The reason of his blush was apparent. Her nightgown, Tenten's, was hanging low. "Yo-you can go back to sleep." She nodded and went back inside. Naruto turned back to Deidara.

"Shhh, Dei. You don't want to wake everyone up."

"You want me to be quiet so you can kill me! I don't wanna die, I'm too young to die! The voices told me that you were trying to kill me and they were right! I don't wanna hear the voices." She cried.

"Calm down, Dei. Please?"

"I don't wanna die!" She insisted. "You're trying to kill me!"

"We'd never do that."

"You're trying to."

"Deidara. You'll be alright." Gaara ventured. His voice was soft and kind. His green eyes were wide and earnest.

"Is everyone trying to kill me? Is that what you two were doing? Plotting to kill me?" The panicked girl yelled.

"We share a room, Dei." Naruto said, frowning. "And Gaara couldn't sleep so he came out with me." He stepped closer. "Medicine." He held out the bottle. Deidara shook her head.

"I'm not touching that poison!" Naruto leapt forward. Deidara sprung back. "Stop! I don't wanna die!" Naruto sighed again.

"Gaara, wake up Sasuke. She doesn't wanna take it." Sasuke's head appeared. Then another from a door down the hall. Dr. Tsunade glanced at Deidara, who hadn't seen her yet. She nodded to Naruto. She took a quick step toward the Schizophrenic teen and grabbed her in a solid hold. Naruto pounced and forced the pill into Deidara's mouth. She swallowed and relaxed. She whimpered slightly.

"What's going on, yeah?"

"We just gave you your medicine, Dei." She nodded. Dr. Tsunade released Deidara and she straightened up.

"Time to meet the new kids." She said briskly. Naruto raised one eyebrow.

"They're not awake yet." She shrugged.

"Then lets see what Tenten's cooking for breakfast." She said.

"Sounds good to me." His stomach rumbled.

"Sounds good?"

"Ok. Sounds great." He put an arm around Deidara's shoulders. "C'mon Dei." He said kindly.

"O-ok." Naruto stepped forward. Deidara stepped with him. Tsunade followed them and Gaara and Sasuke brought up the rear.

Tenten was in the kitchen frying eggs. She turned to greet them as they entered.

"Hi! Good morning every-" She stopped and gazed at the Camoflaged jacket that Deidara had chosen to wear.

"One of those days?" She whispered and glanced at Naruto. He nodded discreetly.

"Taken care of."

"Good." She smiled at them. "I'm just making eggs. They'll be done in a few minutes. Ok?"

"That's great." Naruto told her with a smile.

The door opened behind him. Hinata pushed it open fully and guided Neji into the room. His blind eyes flicked around instinctively. Hinata cocked her head at the sight of the woman standing next to Tenten.

"Hi, you must be Neji and Hinata. I'm Dr. Tsunade." The woman said and stepped forward. She was about 40. She had blond hair pulled into two low pigtails and a cheerful smile. Hinata nodded. Neji turned toward the direction of her voice. He nodded also. Tsunade smiled again.

"I hope you'll be happy here." She said and turned back to Tenten, with an eye on the eggs in the pan. Naruto sighed again. He stepped forward and pivoted so that the others couldn't see his face.

"Dei's having a paranoid day." He whispered. "Be careful with her." Neji acknowledged the statement with a grunt.

"Ok. Does this happen often?" Hinata asked, leaning a little closer. Naruto flushed a pretty shade of red.

"Not too often. When she wears yellow and electric green, she's hyper."

"Yeah?" She prompted.

"When she wears Camo that mean that she's going to be paranoid."

"Are those the only moods?"

"Nope. There's two more, angry and depressed. Red is angry and black is depressed. She picks the colors based on her mood, subconsciously. On the days when she's paranoid, her meds help but she's still a bit paranoid. On those days Dr. Tsunade stays home from work and home-schools Dei."

"Its that bad?" Neji asked softly.

"It is. Most of the time she's hyper though." He turned back to the rest of the group with a big smile on his face.

"Breakfast time!" He yelled happily and made a dive for the breakfast. Tenten hit his knuckles with a spoon.

"Wait or I won't feed you." His face fell and he pouted.

"Tenten is the best cook." He informed Hinata and Neji. She laughed.

"I can hear, you know." The chef in question reminded him.

"I know, oh amazing cook!" He said, almost drawing a giggle from Deidara. Encouraged, he kept going. "You are the most amazing cook ever! I salute you and your fantastic and legendary-" Tenten interrupted him by hitting him over the head with the spoon.

"Shush." She gently chided and placed the food on the kitchen table.

**Whatcha think? I got Dei's mood for next chapter planned but after that… who knows. I've only got a few ideas of where this story's headed. It might be anything from 10-100 chapters long… I need ideas. Review and pick the next moods of the amazing Deidara. **


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, thanks for the wonderful reviews

**Hey, thanks for the wonderful reviews. I'm not in the habit of dedicating chapters but this one goes to Ally1313 for being awesome and reading and reviewing. Yay! Side note: Doesn't anyone review my other stories? Can someone review the two that don't have reviews? **

**I don't own Naruto!! This site is called . Honestly.**

Neji shook Hinata's hand off his arm. He stepped forward on his own and fumbled for a seat. Tenten pushed one out for him.

"Here."

"Thank you."

"Food!" Naruto interrupted, reaching again for the food. Tenten tried to grab him but was out of range. Neji sighed deeply and leaned forward.

Smack. Without the use of his eyes, Neji managed to hit Naruto on the hand that was inches from the food. Tenten smiled.

"Good job."

"Thank you."

"How'd you do that?" She asked, impressed by the precision displayed by the sightless boy.

"Long practice. I can roughly determine position by sound. I've had years to perfect it." He shrugged. "Its natural to me." Tenten glanced around the table.

"Dei?" The blond was looking at the food with suspicion. "What is it?"

"The food. What if someone broke in and put poison in it?" Tenten sighed.

"Dei. I was cooking the whole time. I didn't leave the food for a moment. There's no way that anyone came in."

"But what if it got in before, like at the store? Yeah, we'll all die. The voices are telling me that we're going to die!" Naruto and Tenten exchanged a panicked glance. Deidara wasn't supposed to hear the voices while she was on her medication. Tenten spoke cautiously, testing the waters.

"You're hearing the voices?" Deidara nodded.

"Yeah, they're in my head," She whimpered and put a hand to her forehead.

"Which voices?"

"The ones who told me that I should kill myself!" Deidara whimpered again. Naruto's eyes widened. She hadn't heard those voices in a while.

"Those one?"

"Yeah, I don't wanna die!" She pushed back her chair and ran out of the room. Naruto and Tenten stood up, however, they weren't the first. Neji stood up, blind eyes flicking around the room.

"Can I try talking to her?" He asked. Naruto nodded.

"Sure." Neji pushed his own chair aside gently and stepped, gropingly, in the direction he'd heard the blond run off in. He put his hands out in front of him and found his way to the door.

"I'll help him." Hinata said quietly.

"Don't." Tenten spoke. "The reason he's doing this is because he hates having to be helped and guided like he's incapable of doing anything. He appreciates it but he doesn't want to be a burden. That's my guess." Hinata nodded.

"You're probably right. Its just that, he's always seemed so fragile to me, and I hate it. I hate that he can't protect himself, not because I resent it, but because he has to fight when he can't fight back."

"I understand." Tenten said quietly.

"Our home was just bad, no one ever tried to teach him to cope with not having any sight." She sniffed. Naruto's eyes widened again. The sight of this tough girl sniffing like she was going to cry shocked him. It was like hearing Gaara say that he wanted to sing an opera in front of the whole school. He leaned forward, took Hinata's hand in his and blushed furiously.

"Hin-Hinata? Come with me, please." Hinata stood up and followed him out of the room leaving silence behind them.

"I feel bad," Tenten offered. "There's nothing we can do."

Hinata followed Naruto out into the garden.

"Its beautiful." She said quietly.

"It is. I used to come out here when I was having a hard time." He stopped.

"Like after you were rescued from the streets?" Hinata asked curiously. Naruto nodded slowly.

"Yep. There's something you didn't know. My name, Naruto, is what Tenten and Dr. Tsunade named me."

"What?"

"I didn't even have a name before they took me in. I was nothing. Nothing." Hinata nodded.

"We were nothing too." Naruto shook his head. He sat and turned to find himself on a level with Hinata's…Female anatomy. His face reached a whole new level of crimson and scarlet.

"You-you weren't nothing the way I was. Have you seen the way people look at anyone living on the streets? Like the garbage that's around them."

"I know. I've been there, Naruto. Seriously. It hasn't been easy." He plunged on, almost ignoring her words.

"But you and Neji had each other. You had your convictions and someone to protect. You had an identity. I was just a street orphan, nothing to anyone." He paused.

"I'm sorry."

"No, I am. I shouldn't have been going on about this. I know you've been through this too. People here have been been through so much worse. A moment of weakness." He shrugged. Hinata hugged him suddenly.

"Why are you following me?" Deidara asked, frightened. The kid, the blind one had managed to follow her into her room and was now leaning against the door. The boy sighed.

"Look. Its ok."

"Whatcha mean?"

"Deidara. No one is going to hurt you. You can see that." A slight sigh twisted itself from his throat. "**You **can see that." Deidara looked at him.

"How much can you see?" She asked curiously.

"Nothing." He admitted. "Absolutely nothing." He moved across the room and fumbled for a chair. He sat down on Deidara's bed.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I hate pity. Its just something people say to be polite."

"That's true. I hate it when I know people are talking about me. Wondering why I act the way I do." She stared at him. "Even though I know the voices aren't real, they're still right."

"Deidara. You need to not hear the voices. Its only hurting you. What exactly are the voices telling you?"

"They're telling me all the ways that people could be trying to kill me, yeah. I don't wanna hear them but they keep coming back."

"We're a strange group aren't we?"

"Yeah."

"You're Schizophrenic, I'm blind, Hinata was actually emotionally abused, Naruto's a former street orphan, Gaara was neglected, Sasuke is a mass murder survivor and Tenten's an orphan. Yes, we're a strange group."

"I wouldn't leave for anything. They're my family!" Neji laughed.

"I wouldn't leave either. C'mon out. Tenten's worried about you."

"Yeah. And Neji,"

"What?"

"Thanks. Pity-free sympathy. Not enough of it, yeah." She gave him a weak smile.

"I know. Not enough at all."

"Hey Neji."

"What?"

"I got something you can navigate with." She handed him a crutch. "Here." His hands found the top. He put it in front of him and took a few steps forward, the crutch skimming the floor. Where he felt resistance, he moved.

"Thanks Dei."

**How'd you like it? Was it 'Pathetic Neji' free? I wanted him to help someone. This will NOT be a DeiNeji fic. This will become NaruHina, NejiTen and possibly GaaSaku, SasuKarin (Haha, he must suffer) and SasoDei. Review to pick Dei's moods and give me your opinions on the pairings. **


	7. Chapter 7

This chapter is dedicated to avikar who suggested the 'Emo Corner'

**This chapter is dedicated to avikar who suggested the 'Emo Corner'. Priceless. Simply priceless. If you like the 'Emo Corner' you have avikar to thank for it. **

**I don't own Naruto! I can't even speak Japanese. **

"What's wrong with Deidara?" Hinata asked Tenten curiously as the girls were in the kitchen preparing food.

"Oh, she's depressed today." Tenten answered as she neatly chopped up a carrot and dropped it in a pot. "There we go." She added a bit of olive oil. "I hate it when she does it but its not too frequently."

"Really?" Tenten nodded.

"She gets like that. Its really sad. Dei just walks around like the living dead. She's not like Sasuke."

"What do you mean, like Sasuke?" Tenten started giggling but then let out a roar of laughter.

"You'll see at some point." She laughed.

At this moment, Neji was finding out all about Sasuke.

"Ow." A depressed voice said sulkily. "Hey."

"What's that?" Neji said aloud as he poked the crutch into the resisting object. It moved slightly under the pressure. He had taken to using the crutch to navigate around the house.

"You're poking me."

"Whose there?"

"Sasuke. You're poking me."

"What are you doing?"

"Sittting here. None of your business." Neji raised an eyebrow in skepticism. His head angled in the direction of the younger boy's voice.

"Why are you down there? And besides, I live here too."

"If you can't see for yourself what I'm doing I shouldn't tell you." Neji's brows contracted angrily. He turned on his heel and almost ran into Deidara who was moping along toward him.

"Sorry." He apologized. "Who is it?"

"Deidara." She said in a completely emotionless tone. "You shouldn't mess with Sasuke when he's in the 'Emo Corner'."

"'Emo Corner'?" He queried.

"Emo Corner." She repeated.

"Deidara, I told you not to call it that." Sasuke whined.

"I'm right though."

"Wait," Neji fumbled around until he found her shoulder. "What's the 'Emo Corner'?" Deidara almost laughed.

"There is no 'Emo Corner'." Sasuke said sourly. Deidara snorted. Her expression was critical but still sad.

"Yeah, there certainly is. The 'Emo Corner' is Sasuke's corner."

"It isn't."

"It is." She said flatly.

"No, its not."

"Yeah, it is."

"Wait. What is it?"

"A normal corner." Sasuke interjected.

"I mean, why does Deidara call it the 'Emo Corner'?"

"Because Sasuke comes here to be Emo."

"I do not." Deidara continued as if she hadn't heard a word that he had just uttered and continued in the same lifeless voice.

"He comes here and broods about how horrible his life is."

"Is that so?" Neji asked.

"Is not."

"Is. He comes here and cries pathetically about how depressed he is and how none of us understand him. Isn't that right, Sasuke?"

"No."

"Then why do you come here?" She challenged.

"Because," He tried to think of an excuse. "I like the corner."

"Heh. I rest my case."

"And what about you, Deidara? You have no right to call me Emo after you mope around the house." She sighed.

"I'm Schizophrenic. I've got an excuse. What's yours?"

"Um, my family was murdered."

"Years ago. Besides, my family left me here."

"Wouldn't your parents want you to be happy?" Neji asked, butting in. Sasuke glared in his direction though it was completely ineffectual. Neji couldn't see and Deidara simply ignored it.

"I want to avenge my parents." He intoned solemnly. Neji snorted.

"A, you're twelve. B, how? C, your parents would have wanted you to be happy not to go brooding," His lip twitched, "in a corner that had to be named for your own Emo behavior."

"I'm not Emo."

"Wouldn't they?" He pursued.

"I don't know."

"Think about it." He said, before turning and moving off. Deidara followed him as they headed away from Sasuke and the 'Emo Corner'.

"Nice." Deidara uttered in a mournful tone, "You got Emo-spawn good."

"Emo spawn?" She sighed.

"I'm forgetting that you and Hinata haven't been here forever. Emo-spawn is Sasuke's nickname when he goes into the 'Emo Corner' and decides to give us all an example of what Emo is."

"Who calls him that?" He asked in amusement as they entered Deidara and Tenten's room where Deidara and Neji normally hung out.

"Me and Naru. Yeah, and occasionally Gaara too."

"I see. Does he do this a lot?" Neji asked as he propped his crutch against something and sat down on Deidara's bed.

"All the time."

" He did have a point, Deidara. You're not acting normal."

"Not true."

"Deidara, what are you thinking about?"

"The fact that I could disappear and no one would care." Neji shook his head.

"We'd all care. You're like our sister." His blind gaze sharpened. "Now, what caused this?" Deidara sighed.

"Can't get anything past you."

**Whaddya think of the 'Emo Corner'? Its hilarious, neh? Thank avikar. No offence to Emo's. There is nothing wrong with Emos. Besides the fact that its sad to be depressed and I hope that no one's depressed. Ok, I'm depressed a lot. Fine. Still, I don't hate Emos, only Sasuke. He overdoes it. **


	8. Chapter 8

This chapter is dedicated to Vixen-of-the-leaf who was the first to review What Hurts the Most

**This chapter is dedicated to ****Vixen-of-the-leaf who was the first to review What Hurts the Most. She also got a secret. She found out what happens to Sasuke later. If you are the first to review Repentant Moon or tell me if you think I should take down Host's Life, which I am considering seeing as it turned out bad, then I will tell you. And dedicate a chapter…**

**I don't own. Go and read my page where I describe what would happen differently.**

"Can't put anything past you." She sighed. "Do I have to tell you?"

"Yes. I need to know."

"Ok. Today is my mom and dad's anniversary. We used to do stuff as a family today. But five years ago we didn't. I was hallucinating and delusional and my parents locked me in the bathroom when they went out. Two days later, on my mom's birthday, they abandoned me here."

"Deidara, I'm sorry. I really am."

"I know." Her voice was flat and emotionless. "I know." A tear, invisible to the room's other occupant, rolled down her cheek. Neji used the crutch to push himself to his feet and tap his way toward her. His face was screwed up in concentration as he tried hard to find his way toward the friend he knew was upset about her past. The crutch tapped her ankle.

"Is that you?"

"Yeah." He sat gingerly beside her. His arm reached out and felt its way across her shoulders. His hand rubbed her shoulders in a comforting manner, attempting to reassure her.

"Its alright, Deidara."

"Its not alright, ok?" Suddenly she was yelling, standing up and shoving his arm off her shoulders. "Its not alright!"

"I know."

"You don't!" She sniffed. "You haven't seen your own parents leave you after you spent nine years as a happy family! You haven't seen them leave you, unwanted." Her voice faltered.

"I know that." There was a note of darkness in his voice and she looked up, surprised. She had never heard bitterness from him before.

"What do you mean?"

"I haven't seen my own parents leave me after nine happy years. I haven't seen anything and you know that."

"Er…"

"**You** don't understand. Look, Deidara," and he almost chuckled at the irony, "I never had a happy family. My dad died when I was little. He was the only one who'd accept that someone from our family was born **blind**. Blind, Deidara. Blind. Do you know how hard that was?"

"Er…" She repeated, feeling growing feelings of uncertainty and a trace amount of guilt inside her.

"You don't. You don't get that. My mom, you think she wanted her only child blind?" He scoffed.

"Er…" She said again, feeling even more uncomfortable.

"Of course not. She took me to the doctor, had them test me, found out there was nothing anyone could do and left me with my father's family. She left her four year old, blind child with a family she knew wouldn't treat me well. She knew that but she didn't care. She wouldn't have to deal with my problems. Your parents left you somewhere that you had a chance. I know that leaving you was wrong and they shouldn't have done that but where they left you, you had a chance of coping with your Schizophrenia. My mom left me in an abusive home." The last two words seemed to ring around the room. Deidara caught her breath.

"Abusive?" She repeated. He laughed darkly. He moved back on the bed so he wasn't right next to her.

"You heard me. Abusive."

"What do you mean?"

"As in, I never got any help learning to cope with my disability. I was punished for mistakes I couldn't help but make because I couldn't see. I got locked up in a room for up to two days. You think they fed me enough?"

"Umm…"

"No. I was a waste of resources, a waste of air. I was some pathetic cripple who could never amount to anything. Except to Hinata." There was a softer note in his voice for the last sentence.

"What do you mean?" A small smile curved its way up his face, lighting it up as it spread.

"Except to Hinata. She was the first one, and the only one in that house, who didn't see me as a blind genetic glitch. She saw me as another person. And I saw her as a fellow sufferer."

"What?"

"You didn't know. Cheerful Hinata was mistreated by her parents. Only verbally, thankfully. But she was told she was weak and a mistake when she was younger. Until we met and she started to help me. Then she got punished like me, locked up, just because she took a few moments out of her time to help a blind person deal with the cold, hard world."

"I had no idea."

"Of course you didn't. She never tells anyone. She's like my sister so I respect that." He turned his sightless face toward her. "Do you get it?"

"Yeah."

"Do you really?" His shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." He bit his lip. "Its kinda an impulse." Deidara sniffed loudly. "Deidara? What's wrong this time?" She sniffed again.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't cry." She sobbed.

"I can't help it."

"Seriously." She started crying louder.

"I can't help it." He sighed and stood. He fumbled around until he found his crutch and pulled it up. He carefully tapped his way over to her. She started crying harder. The sight of the blind boy, tapping his way over, sightless eyes concerned and alarmed about someone else affected her. He sat down beside her and tried to soothe her. She kept crying.

Tenten looked in from the doorway to see her Schizophrenic best friend crying her eyes out and a blind teen trying to comfort her without the use of his eyes, the one thing that would have been helpful.

"That's sad." She muttered.

"I know." A voice said behind her. Hinata was standing and looking into the room over her shoulder.

"How'd…"

"I heard them yelling."

"I see."

"Its like the blind leading the blind, isn't it?" She said softly.

"Yep."

**How'd you like it? Sorry for the Neji-angst but it was necessary. The next mood the one and only Deidara will have is… HYPER! I like her best that way. There'll be a few chapters like that and then the story gets going… Seriously. Dei stuff. Review. You wanna know what happens to Emo-spawn? Review Repentant Moon first. You know you wanna. **


	9. Chapter 9

. **Ok. Here's the new chapter. If you are most certainly not a Sasuke fan then can you go read Adventures of the Pink Unicorn? Total Sasuke bashing. I promise. **

**I don't own. I'm not a guy, even 18, Japanese, or a good artist. **

"Wake up! Yeah!" A voice shouted in Tenten's ear. She groaned and rolled over, pulling the pillow over her head.

A hand pulled the pillow off.

"Wake up!" Tenten groaned again. She squirmed down into the warmth of the blankets that were over her. That was better.

The hand jerked the blankets off the same as they had removed the pillow.

"Come on, Ten. Wake up! You need to cook!"

"Dei, I need to **sleep. **Let me sleep."

"But…"

"No buts." She moaned.

"But…"

"Go back to sleep, Dei." With that, Tenten pulled the blankets back up over her head. She snuggled deep into the warmth and began to go back to sleep.

Deidara pouted. Here she was, trying to get Tenten to wake up so she could cook and Tenten refused to get up.

There was only one thing to be done. Deidara, the Schizophrenic, artistic, teenage girl would have to attempt to do the impossible and highly unlikely. She knew that she had a low chance of success. She had to do it though. Deidara had decided that she had to cook the breakfast.

That she planned on making herself cereal would have been a big deal. Deidara had the gift that enabled her to mess up on even the most basic things that didn't even require the application of heat, cold, or many ingredients.

Deidara was planning to _cook_ breakfast. Cook. As in, Pancakes, French Toast, Muffins kind of cook.

This was a disaster in the making.

Disaster meant something like lighting the house on fire. Deidara plus cooking equals instant chaos. Her gift for messing up cooking was natural, unfortunately. She messed up accidentally worse than people could do on purpose.

There was nothing to be done. Deidara stood up fully, stretched and walked over to her closet. She picked a neon green tank top and a pair of black capris. She shook her head at the sleeping Tenten before opening the door.

Deidara walked down the hallway to the kitchen, deep in thought. She was thinking about her family. Her parents meant her parents but they weren't her family.

Her family was Tenten, Naruto, Haku, Kimmimaro, Sasuke, Gaara and now Hinata and Neji. She frowned slightly. Neji. She felt bad about having been rude to him when she was being depressed. Deidara couldn't control when she was depressed or how she acted but she always felt bad after.

And, as usual, she brushed off her guilt and put on a big goofy smile.

"I can do! Yeah!" She said loudly. "I'm gonna defeat the enemy that is cooking!" She giggled. It sounded like something from a sci-fi movie. She giggled a little more. She liked sci-fi.

"Agent Deidara, reporting in. I'm going in." As she said this she opened the door with the amount of stealth, or attempted stealth that she felt a spy required. With her insane skills, she carefully poked her head around the doorframe.

The room was as usual. The dished were washed and put away. The counters were clean. The fresh fruits that Dr. Tsunade and Tenten insisted they all eat were on their individual racks. All of the silverware had been cleaned the night before and placed back in the drawer. The whole place was silent.

Deidara slipped into the room.

"I'm in." She whispered. "Yeah!" She giggled. "I need to grow up." She told herself. "Alright. Be mature." She took a moment to straighten up and basically mock every notion of teenage emotional maturity that people happened to have. Simply speaking, she looked like a toddler trying to act like a grown up.

Deidara thought for a moment.

"I'm gonna cook something. Yeah." She considered. "But what can I cook for everyone that they'll all like?" She paused. "I'll cook something!" She bounced around the kitchen, pulling the flour from the cabinet, a knife from the drawer, sugar, salt, a jug of milk and a few other assorted items that she assumed she needed.

It did not occur to her to ask anyone besides Tenten and it did not occur to her that such things as a cook book existed for this exact purpose.

Within five minutes the kitchen was a disaster.

Neji stirred in his sleep. His dream was of darkness, what he saw every moment. He did not dream of color, like he knew others with his condition did, but of the darkness. In his dream he felt the cold floor of the room in the basement where he had been held captive. He felt hunger in his belly. He felt afraid. But this was nothing compared to his other feeling.

He could smell smoke and he knew that Hinata was somewhere in here, unconscious and he had to get both of them out of the room alive. Gropingly, he reached around, trying to feel where his cousin was lying. It was his fault she was down here. He had to get her out alive.

He sat up straight in the room that he shared with Hinata at Safe Haven Shelter. His hands felt the bed underneath him and he relaxed. That had been a nightmare, only a nightmare.

Then why did it feel so real?

He sniffed the air and froze. Something was burning. Neji threw himself out of bed. There was a fire.

He grabbed his crutch from the wall, his only thought to put out the fire. Hurriedly, he raced down the hallway.

"Fire!" He yelled. "There's a fire!"

Neji followed the scent of smoke. His excellent memory told him that the smell of smoke was coming from the kitchen. He pushed open the door.

Blindly, he felt his way to where he knew the sink was and felt under it. He thought frantically that there might be a bucket underneath it and he could fill it with water to douse the flames.

He was in luck. There was a bucket. Ignoring the sounds of voices, he filled it with water and threw it in the direction of the stove, where he assumed the fire to be. He was right. He managed to completely douse the fire, and also the stove. He heard it hiss as it went out.

"Thanks, yeah." He heard Deidara say.

"Deidara?"

At that moment, all the other inhabitants of Safe Haven Shelter came running through the door to find the kitchen a shambles, Deidara standing, shamefaced by the smoking mess that was the stove, the floor around the stove wet and Neji standing by the sink with a bucket in his hands.


	10. Chapter 10

**. Ok, here's the new chapter. **

**I don't own. What would you do if I said I did?**

"Dei, how could you light the kitchen on fire?" Tenten asked for the tenth time that morning.

"Umm. You wouldn't wake up so I had to cook, yeah." Deidara said uncomfortably. She was feeling a little bit guilty about making the kitchen look like a tornado came through and then lighting it on fire.

"Dei. You could have asked someone else to make breakfast or help you." Tenten said, sighing.

"Like who?"

"Naruto."

"Oh yeah."

"Well, its out now." Hinata offered helpfully. Tenten turned towards her. Deidara shifted again.

"I just want to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"You've got a point."

The girls sighed again. After everyone had come into the kitchen, chaos had broken loose.

"_Dei! What happened?" Tenten yelled. _

"_Er." _

_Naruto's eyes flicked across the kitchen. _

"_The stove was on fire." He said. _

"_Is it out?" Neji asked. Naruto nodded and then remembered that Neji, who had managed to stop the fire, couldn't see his nod. _

"_Yep. All out." _

"_We need to make sure." With that, he partially refilled the bucket and tapped his way towards the stove. _

"_May I?" He asked. _

"_Go ahead." Tenten said. _

_Neji dumped the bucket on the fire. _

"_All out now." He said as it hissed like an angry cat and a cloud of dark grey smoke rose up. _

_Tenten and Hinata crossed the kitchen at the same time. _

"_Neji, are you ok?" Hinata asked him. _

"_Fine." _

"_Dei. Did you light the fire?" _

"_Ummm." _

"_I think it was an accident." Neji said. "She didn't mean to."_

"_I know that. You would never do that on purpose, Dei." Tenten said in a comforting manner. _

"_I'm sorry, yeah." She sniffed. "Its my fault." She lifted her head. "Can you forgive me?" She asked in an almost comical manner. Tenten sighed tiredly and rubbed her eyes with her hands. _

"_Alright." _

"_Yay!" Deidara cheered. _

"_Oh Dei. Be more careful." Tenten said._

"_But, what happened? How'd you know to come here, Neji?" Naruto interrupted curiously._

"_Woke up and smelled smoke." Neji said. _

"_Thank you." Tenten said earnestly. _

"_Least I could do." He said. _

"_Still, thank you." _

_All the inhabitants looked around the smoke-filled kitchen. _

"_Time to start cleaning." Naruto said. _

"_You're right." _

After the kitchen had been cleaned, they all went out into the garden and Tenten had remembered the fact that the garden still needed some work. Hence, the work in the garden that was now occurring.

"I'm just glad that Neji woke up, yeah." Deidara said as she energetically pulled on one of Tenten's carrots.

"Dei! Stop it! That's a carrot!" Tenten yelled in despair. "You're supposed to pull the weeds, not the carrots!"

"Heh. Sorry."

"Just be more careful."

"Yeah."

"You'll make me go grey before my time." Tenten sighed. She held out a strand of her brown hair for inspection.

"Is there any grey yet?"

"None." Deidara gigged.

"Yet."

"Deidara. This is a weed." Hinata said helpfully, shaking the specimen that she had pulled from near the cabbages. "See?"

"Yeah." Hinata stood up, shook some of the dirt off of her clothes and walked over to the older girl.

"What's this?" She asked, pointing to a carrot.

"Weed?"

"No, that's a carrot."

"Oh."

"What's this?" She pointed to a weed.

"Er. It doesn't look like that thing." She said while poking the young carrot that had been showed to her, with her toe.

"Stop poking the carrot, Dei!" Tenten called.

"Ok."

"So. What is it?" Hinata asked patiently.

"Er. Weed?"

"Good job. It's a weed." She bent down and pulled it up.

"Understand?"

"Yeah." Deidara bent down and pulled up a carrot.

"This is a weed, right?"

As one, Hinata and Tenten sighed.

"No, that was a carrot."

"Oh. Whoops." Hinata took the carrot and stuck it back in the hole.

"There."

"Can I do something else?" Deidara asked.

"Alright. But, like what?"

"Er. Garden with the boys, what they're doing isn't so picky! Yeah!" Deidara said, standing up and jumping up and down.

"Nooo. The carrots!" Tenten exclaimed in dismay. Deidara stopped bouncing.

"Please?"

"All right. Just don't step on anything as you go."

"Yeah!" Deidara yelled cheerfully. "I get to go do something!"

She ran out of the vegetable patch, narrowly missing the squash.

Tenten and Hinata looked at each other and sighed before going back to work.

**Sorry there wasn't a chapter yesterday. My grandpa and my mom's half sister came to visit. So yeah. Maybe I'll post a second chapter later today to make up for it. Review, yeah! **


	11. Chapter 11

**. Whoah. I've got 30 reviews! 30! Yay! Thanks to everyone who reviewed but especially to those who reviewed a few times! Yay!**

**I don't own. Its getting old. **

"So, Neji." Sasuke said as he stopped mowing the lawn for a moment. The blind teen looked up from where he was raking.

"What?"

"Is the story you told Tenten true?"

"Um. Yeah."

"You don't sound certain." Naruto pointed out.

"You seriously don't." Sasuke agreed.

"Why would I lie?" Neji asked.

Sasuke shrugged.

"I don't know."

"What did you dream about?" Naruto asked suddenly.

"Why the curiosity?" Neji cocked his head in the direction of the other boys. They were all in the opposite side of the garden from the girls.

"Dunno." Naruto responded. He stopped helping Gaara trim the trees.

"He wants to analyze your dream." Sasuke said. "He likes to do that."

"I don't."

"You do."

"Don't."

"Don't deny it."

"Ok. Fine, I admit." Naruto said.

"Gotcha."

"So anyway. What did you dream about?" Neji shrugged.

"In a dark place of course. Just black."

"Go on."

"Hey Naruto."

"Yeah, Sasuke?" The black haired teen smirked for a moment.

"Only girls do dream interpretation."

"Its not 'Dream Interpretation'. I read one of Dr. Tsunade's books on how dreams actually reflect the thoughts and fears of the individual."

"I see." Said Sasuke, momentarily silenced.

"Keep going, Neji." Naruto said.

"Well, I kinda knew the room. It was the room my uncle locked me up in whenever I was 'Bad'."

"I see."

"I just kinda knew that Hinata was in there too and I had to get her out but I couldn't see her of course."

"Yeah? Then what?"

"The reason I had to get her out was because I could smell smoke. Then I just kind of woke up."

"I see."

"So, dream specialist. What does the dream mean?" Sasuke mocked.

"Er. Nothing really. You're pretty attuned to your surroundings aren't you Neji?" The boy shrugged.

"Gotta be. I always relied on hearing, touch, and smell."

"I see."

"That all?" Sasuke said teasingly.

"Well, he's pretty close to Hinata of course." Neji laughed at that.

"Of course I am. She's like my sister. I love her." Sasuke started laughing uncontrollably. Neji frowned at him.

"What?"

"Its like a romance movie, but a _bad _one. You know, cousins' forbidden love? That kind of stuff."

"Wouldn't it be illegal?" Gaara asked quietly.

"Nope. Not close enough related." Naruto said.

"If Sasuke stops to think for a single instant," Neji cut in. "He'll remember that before I said that I loved her, I said that she was like my sister. Sister not crush or forbidden love or anything like that."

"Oh." Sasuke said and went back to mowing the lawn.

"So you try to understand dreams, huh Naruto?" Neji asked curiously.

"Yep."

"Is it hard?" The blond shrugged.

"Not really. You just look for the fears. Like if there hadn't really been smoke then I woulda said that you're either scared of fires or the darkness or loosing Hinata." He shrugged. "But since the smoke was real…" He trailed off.

"I see."

There was a silence again.

"Naruto?" Sasuke was talking.

"Yeah? Something wrong?"

"No. I just wanted hear you try to interpret this dream."

"Go ahead." Naruto was interested.

"Ok. I was in the garden pretty close to here and Deidara was pretty near me. She was playing with something about this big," He made his hands into a fist, "And it kept beeping."

"Hm." Naruto murmured.

"And I told her to knock it off. She just kinda laughed. I told her to knock it off again. She just kept doing it. I told her to stop again and that I'd tell someone to take that thing away."

Neji started cracking up.

"You know. That's something a kid does. Tattletale." Sasuke glared at him but of course he didn't see it.

"Go on, Sasuke." Naruto urged.

"Ok. So I was heading up to the house and I was passing here and she was following me and it kept beeping."

"Then what?"

"I woke up and the beeping just kinda kept going." He laughed. "It was the alarm clock. Interpret that, Naruto!"

"You have a phobia of Deidara bugging you?" Naruto suggested.

"What about me, Naru?" Asked a voice behind him. He turned. Sasuke, Neji and Gaara all bit back laughter.

"Whoa, Dei. You startled me. Whacha doing?"

"I'm gonna work with you! Yeah!" She said.

"Great." Sasuke said, annoyed.

Deidara flung a twig at him. It stuck in his hair.

**Likey? Sasuke's dream was actually one of my own. Only it A) was me, not Sasuke, B) was my little sister, not Dei. I'm not so obsessed that I dream about Naruto, yet. C) I was going to tell my mom, not someone at SHS, D) it was at my house. **

**Yeah… Anyway. Someone asked if this fic was NejiHina and I'm sorry folks. The answer is no. There are no pairings until about chapter 51 and then its NejiTen and NaruHina with some SasoDei later. Ok. Yeah, I planned out this story. It'll be at least 65 chapters long. Eek. Think you can read all that? **

**Review or I'll send Dei to your house to pull up all your innocent vegetables, thinking that they're weeds. **


	12. Chapter 12

**. jThis chapter contains crazy Deidara. **

**I own Naruto! I'm also one hundred feet tall, a thousand years old and the supreme queen of the Universe! Do you believe me? I don't own. **

"Take that! A twig in the hair, yeah!"

"Oh wonderful." Sasuke grumbled. "We get to work with Deidara." Naruto frowned at him.

"Quit complaining."

"Yeah! Quit complaining, Emo-boy!" Deidara yipped.

"See?" Sasuke appealed to Naruto.

"What?"

"See what she does to me?" He said dramatically.

His overly dramatic moment was ruined by Deidara who took the hose and sprayed him full in the face with it. Sasuke spluttered angrily as he tried to dry off his face with his sleeve.

"Deidara!" He yelled.

"Haha!"' She giggled, spraying him further.

"I'm gonna kill you!" He made a lunge for her. She neatly jumped out of the way and stood at attention.

"You can't get me!" She cheered in a sing song manner.

"Deidara! When I catch you…" He threatened again.

"I wonder whose going to win this." Gaara commented. "My guess is Deidara. She's stronger and faster and she's got the hose."

"Hey!" Sasuke yelled.

"I agree." Neji commented.

"Hey!" He yelled again. "Isn't anyone on my side?"

"Nope." Deidara giggled again.

"Naruto?"

"Nope. My bet's on Dei." He informed Sasuke cheerily.

"That's no fair!"

Deidara paused for a moment to look philosophical.

"Life isn't fair, Sasuke." She told him, grinning.

"Shut it!"

"Language." She scolded. "Tsk, tsk."

"You die now!" He yelled again, lunging.

She tripped him and shook her finger reproachfully.

"Respect your elders."

"What's happening now?" Neji asked with interest.

"She's dodging every move he makes. She just tripped him up and he fell." Naruto informed him, grinning.

"They do this a lot?" He asked.

"Oh all the time."

"They do it very frequently but Deidara always wins." Gaara commented quietly with only the hint of a smile.

"I heard that!" Sasuke yelled. He pulled himself upright. He was soaked from being sprayed with the hose and was muddy from falling in the dirt while wet. The twig still clung tenaciously to his dripping black hair.

Deidara, by contrast was still pretty clean and unruffled. She stood a few feet away, grinning wickedly.

"Come and get me, Sasuke." She taunted. He cracked his knuckles.

"I am so going to get you."

"Dei, Sasuke. Time to get back to work." Naruto told them. "Go on."

Sasuke scowled at Deidara who waved cheekily at him.

"I won again, yeah!" She laughed.

"Stupid girl." Sasuke complained as he returned to mowing the lawn.

"What are you going to work on, Deidara?" Gaara asked.

"I dunno! Yeah!"

"What do you want to do, Dei?" Naruto asked.

"Anything."

"As long is she's not working with me I'm fine." Sasuke said grouchily. "Little pest. I can't get this twig out of my hair."

Everyone laughed.

"You can help Neji with the raking." Naruto told her. "Go on. There's a rake over there." He pointed to it.

"Ok!"

She hurried across the yard to get the rake.

"Can you do over there?" Naruto asked her.

"Yeah!"

"Calm down, brat." Sasuke grumbled. "No normal person's that cheerful and its making me sick."

"I'm not normal." She informed his with a straight face.

"Try to be."

"But normal is boring."

"Its nicer."

"No its not. Besides, I'm a Schizophrenic brat. Who ever said I'd ever act even close to normal."

"Stupid pest." He muttered.

"You're hurting my feelings." She pouted as she began to rake the yard. "Naru, he's being mean."

"Dei, just rake." Naruto said.

"Fine."

The peace continued for another few minutes. Naruto and Gaara finished another tree and moved on to one closer to the house. Sasuke finished a quarter of the lawn. Deidara and Neji managed to rake about half of the leaves.

"Where else are there leaves?" Neji asked, kneeling so that he could feel the ground. "Can you show me?"

"Sure!" Deidara guided him to a spot where there was an abundance of the fallen greenery.

"Thanks." He began to rake up the mess.

"Dang it." Sasuke swore. "The lawn mower stopped working."

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked.

"Positive."

Naruto stopped cutting the tree and walked over to Sasuke. He bent down and inspected the lawn mower.

"What happened?" He asked.

"It just stopped."

"You got water into it."

"Its Deidara's fault!"

"Stop it. The lawn mower isn't broken."

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

"We're going to have to get stuff to repair it." Naruto told them seriously. "Come on. Lets tell Tenten."

**Heh. Water war. I only wish Deidara beat Sasuke in the manga. Pity, I liked Deidara. Next chapter gets more serious. Review! **


	13. Chapter 13

**. Seriousness… You get to meet new people in a few chapters. I wonder who.**

**I don't own. I'm getting kinda tired of saying this. Yeah!**

"Tenten! Sasuke broke the lawn mower, yeah!" Deidara yelled as she ran across the grass to the vegetable garden.

Tenten and Hinata straightened up from where they had been on their hands and knees weeding the carrots.

"What happened?" Tenten asked.

"Sasuke broke the lawn mower!" Deidara yelled again.

"I did not!"

"You did!"

"Did not!"

"Did!"

"Didn't!"

"Did!"

"Dei, Sasuke." Naruto said calmly.

"Yeah?"

"What?"

"SHUT UP!" He yelled. Sasuke and Deidara's eyes widened comically in shock from Naruto yelling.

"Sorry." Deidara apologized.

"Heh. So you actually admit its your fault?" The black haired boy jeered, unapologetic to the last.

"Nope! I'm sorry for being loud, yeah!" She yelled. "I don't admit its my fault because its yours, Emo-boy!"

"Dei, you're being loud now." Tenten said wearily, massaging her temples with her fingertips.

"Sorry." She apologized again.

"Its ok. Now, what happened?"

Instantly, Sasuke and Deidara started yelling again.

"His fault!"

"Hers!"

"Water!"

"Hose!"

"Lawn mower!"

"Broken!"

"His, yeah!"

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled again. "Will one of you explain to Tenten what happened with out blaming each other?"

Instantly, they were yelling yet again.

"Sasuke did it!"

"I didn't! It was your fault, Deidara!"

"No it wasn't! It was your fault, yeah!"

"You sprayed the water!"

"You dripped it!"

"Will one of you just tell me?" Tenten tried to say over the clamor of the argument that was currently raging.

"Sasuke and Deidara didn't want to work together and they got into an argument that ended up with her spraying him with the hose." Neji said.

He tapped his way with the rake over to Tenten's side. His eyes were blank as usual but his face was screwed up in concentration as he tried to navigate by whatever sound wasn't drowned out by Sasuke and Deidara's little screaming-at-each-other-over-whose-fault-it-is, match.

"What?" Tenten asked, as Neji managed to reach her side.

"Sasuke and Deidara didn't want to work together and they got into an argument that ended up with her spraying him with the hose." He repeated.

"I see."

"It is normal then?"

She sighed.

"Perfectly so."

"I see."

"So, what's this about the lawn mower?"  
"Somehow water must have dripped off of Sasuke and gotten into the lawn mower because its not working." Neji explained.

"Did Naruto say that?" She asked.

"He did." Gaara said quietly from Tenten's other side. The small redhead had slipped over as well.

"Gaara?" Neji asked.

"Yeah?"

"Ok. I didn't know where you were."

"Sorry." Gaara apologized.

"Both of you, shut up!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke and Deidara quieted finally.

"Sorry, Naru." The girl said.

"Sorry," Sasuke shrugged.

"You don't have to yell about it. Its not even broken." He told them with an air of infinite patience.

"Heh. Sorry." Deidara said sheepishly.

"So, Naru."

He turned.

"Yeah, Tenten?"

"What is actually wrong with the lawn mower?" She held up a hand to stop Sasuke and Deidara from starting again. "Naruto."

"A bit of water got into it. I can fix it, I think, if I get the right supplies." He said. "Probably."

Tenten massaged her temples.

"I wish Kimmimaro was here right now." She said.

"Me too." Naruto agreed.

"Huh?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, Kimmimaro's pretty good with fixing stuff, good with his hands and all that. We told him that if being a lawyer didn't work out, he should just be a repairman or a mechanic." She shrugged.

"I see." Hinata nodded.

"We think it came from having to fix himself." Naruto explained with out a smile. "His dad was a real jerk."

"He was." Tenten agreed.

"So if we go out now, we can get stuff to fix it." He said.

**Sasu vs. Dei screaming match. Who did you want to win? I was voting for Dei! Yeah! Review! **


	14. Chapter 14

**. I present, a new chapter! **

**I no own Naruto! Capiche? **

"We can go out and get the supplies." Tenten told them. She took off her dirty garden apron and shook it.

"Sounds good." Naruto offered. "I know where to get some good stuff for the lawn mower."

"How's the rest of the garden? How close to done is it?" She asked in a business like manner.

"Decent." Naruto said. "Lawn's about half mowed, all but one of the trees are trimmed, the raking is about three quarters done."

"Good."

"Is there anything else that we need for the garden?" She addressed the question to everyone.

"Maybe tomato plants would be good." Hinata offered. "I noticed we don't have tomatoes."

"Ok. Lawn mower stuff, tomatoes. Anything else?"

"Maybe we need spinach." Naruto suggested with a wicked glance at Sasuke and Deidara.

"No!" Sasuke yelled. "Not spinach!"

"I agree, yeah!" Deidara yelled. "No spinach!"

"But spinach is healthy and good for you." Hinata pointed out, catching on to Naruto's little joke.

"Definitely some spinach." Tenten said.

"I propose a new rule." Naruto suggested evilly.

"We serve spinach with every meal and it must be eaten. The full serving. The consequences will be that anyone who fails to meet these conditions has to do all the cook's chores for a day. If they are the cook, then you take all of your roommate's chores for a day." This comment was met with groans of despair as well as giggles of suppressed mirth.

"What if you have two roommates?" Sasuke asked in alarm.

Naruto paused for dramatic effect.

"You take both of their chores."

"Lets put it to a vote!" Sasuke suggested desperately.

"You're like a little kid." Neji pointed out.

"Yeah! A vote!" Deidara seconded with equal despair.

"If you don't want that say no! If you want it say yes!" Sasuke said, looking around at all the faces appealingly.

"No!" Sasuke and Deidara shouted in unison.

They looked around at the others.

"I made it so, yes." Naruto said.

"Gaara?"

The red head shrugged shyly, nervous about being in the spotlight.

"If Naruto thinks it's a good idea… then yes."

"Hinata?"

The black haired girl smiled evilly.

"I studied nutrition at school. Spinich is very important. I think that getting spinach is a wonderful idea. Yes."

Sasuke and Deidara started breathing hard.

"Alright, before these two stop breathing." Naruto said solemnly. "It was just a joke, ok? We were kidding."

"Really?" Deidara asked, brightening.

Naruto nodded.

"Joke."

"Alright, what else do we need besides the lawn mower stuff and tomatoes? A warning, Sasuke and Dei, I was going to say yes about the spinach rule. " Tenten asked, returning the conversation to its earlier topic.

Sasuke gulped.

"Clay, yeah!" Deidara yelled.

"Alright."

"Some new pans." Naruto said. "A few of them got burned too badly to be used anymore."

Deidara looked sheepish.

"Ok."

"That's it." Naruto said. "Lets go."

They walked back to the house through the garden. Tenten stopped every few feet to pick a weed out of her beloved plants. When Sasuke complained, she threw a weed at him. It hit him directly in the face.

"Good shot." Naruto said.

"Thanks."

They continued walking. Tenten opened the back door and put her gardening apron on a hook by it. She gestured for Hinata to do the same.

"Where should I put the rake?" Neji asked as Naruto deposited the shears in a basket next to the racks.

"I'll take it." Tenten took it and put it against the wall.

"Thanks."

Tenten led them through the house and pulled out a piece of paper to scribble a note to Dr. Tsunade.

_Mom,_

_The smell of smoke is from the kitchen, it caught on fire this morning but we put it out. None of us got hurt. Incase you get back before we do, we're out to get some stuff. The lawn mower got damaged and we're repairing it. _

_-Tenten_

"That'll be good." She said. "We'll take bikes." She led them to the garage where she took bikes.

They got on the bikes before remembering Neji. Tenten hopped off again to grab the attachment. She attached it onto the back of Naruto's bike. It was green and one of those attachments that people used for small children although they had gotten it for Deidara a month ago.

She guided Neji into it. He sat down with his legs crossed as Naruto started pedaling. Tenten, Deidara, Sasuke, Gaara and Hinata followed.

They pedaled for about a mile before pulling into a small mall where all the stores they needed were.

They easily took care of getting supplies before going into the final store where they would get Deidara's clay.

The store was cool and quiet.

Deidara tugged on Tenten's sleeve, her voice hushed and nervous.

"Tenten. I think I see my parents."

**Dramatic… Dei's parents… What will happen? Review! If you don't you might never know…**


	15. Chapter 15

Dei's parents…

**Dei's parents…**

**I don't own Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Sasuke, Gaara, Tsunade or Deidara… Not even one. **

"I think I see my parents." Deidara repeated nervously. She was twitching slightly and playing with a strand of her bangs.

"You sure, Dei?" Tenten asked, keeping her voice low and quiet. She stopped looking at a lump of clay and turned to her friend.

Deidara nodded.

"I'm pretty sure, yeah." She whispered back.

"Like how sure?"

"Like 50 percent sure."

"What are we talking about, Tenten?" Naruto asked quietly, Gaara right behind him as usual.

"I think I see my parents." Deidara said.

"Really?" Naruto whispered.

"Which people?" Gaara asked.

"Them." Deidara pointed to a black haired man and a blond woman. They were facing away from the group, looking at paint. Their heads were close together and the man seemed to be telling his wife about something. The woman was holding a set of Ikebana, flower arraigning, supplies.

"Those two?" Tenten whispered back. "The two people standing by the paint are your parents?"

"I think so."

The man and woman turned around slightly in the direction of the cashier. Tenten took a moment to study them.

The man, black haired and pretty young, was looking disinterested and impassive and looked nothing like his daughter. He was holding a set of paints that appeared to be for experienced painters.

The woman, also young, looked a lot like her daughter with sandy, yellow blond hair worn in a pony tail. She had bluer eyes than Deidara though and her hair was slightly paler in color.

"It is them." Deidara breathed. She got even more nervous as she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.

"Really?"

"Positive."

"Your mom looks a lot like you." Naruto commented, tweaking a strand of his friend's hair. "Same hair."

"Hey." Deidara said, jerking her long hair out of Naruto's hand. "It took me a while to brush it." She straightened it self consciously, pushing it down with her fingers and adjusting the ponytail.

The man said something to his wife. They both turned in the direction of the sound of Deidara's voice. Both of the adults started, and stared at Deidara with widened eyes as if they had seen a ghost.

Deidara jumped slightly and dove behind her friends as if she was being haunted by a ghost.

"Dei?" Naruto asked.

"Shh." She whispered but it was already too late.

The man and woman stepped forward toward the group from Safe Haven Shelter curiously, the woman whispering into her husband's ear. He nodded to her and led her over to the children.

Instinctively, the group shifted around Deidara, shielding her from view. Even Sasuke and Hinata stepped over, Hinata guiding her blind cousin. They all shifted again so that no sight of Deidara could be seen.

"Excuse me." The man asked.

"Yes?" Tenten responded.

The man looked a bit nervous.

"Did I just see a blond girl dive behind you?"

"What of it?" Naruto said belligerently.

"Naruto." Tenten scolded. "Be polite."

"Dei thinks these people might be her parents…" He said meaningly. "I've got a perfectly good reason."

"Naru." Deidara said, as she slipped out of her hiding place behind her living wall. "Stop it."

"Deidara." The woman breathed.

"Mom." Deidara said flatly.

"Its you." She said.

"Yeah."

"Wait, your parents?" Neji said.

"Yeah." Deidara replied.

"Really?" Sasuke said.

"Uh huh."

"Wow." Hinata offered.

"I know." The blond said.

"Deidara?" The woman said again. "How are you?"

"I've been fine." The girl said back.

"What was the deal with the strange hallucinations?" The man asked. "Are they gone now?"

"Yeah." Deidara said. "They're gone."

"That's good." Her father said.

"What was it?" Her mother asked, stepping forward to put her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"Schizophrenia." Deidara told her flatly. Her mother tensed up for a moment and her hands lightened.

"Treated?"

"Yeah."

"That good."

"Yeah."

"So, Dei," The man said.

Naruto hissed at the use of the nickname.

"Yeah?"

"How have you been?"

"Good…" She trailed off uncertainly. Tenten saw her discomfort and put an arm on her back reassuringly.

"Why do you care?" Naruto hissed.

"Because." The man said, "She is our daughter."

"You didn't act like it." Neji said, backing Naruto up. "You left her on the doorstep and never came back."

"A mistake I plan to remedy." He said. "Dei, you will come back home with us right away."

The world seemed to slow down.

"What?" Naruto said slowly.

"My wife and I are taking our daughter back." The man said slowly, as if talking to a small child. "Rights of kin."

"We're more her siblings than you are her parents." Neji said.

"Not in the eyes of the law," The man said, shrugging.

**What do you think? Should Dei go with her parents? Should she stay? Yes, her parents are Ino and Sai. I was too lazy to make OCs and I like them as a couple. Besides, don't deny that Ino looks like Deidara. **

**Leave reviews. **


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